Porritt 'staggered' by UK green gas policy

One of the world’s leading experts on climate change has accused UK ministers of failing to develop a joined-up policy on addressing climate change, saying it was “staggering” that the recent strategy for gas failed to include energy from renewable sources.

Jonathon Porritt, who founded Forum for the Future, was speaking at the annual conference of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA) in London.

While the Government had a “very firm” low carbon policy, he said, ministers in the coalition had shifted from their positions in opposition prior to the 2010 General Election.

Porritt said it was not a “cheap shot” to argue that “joined up thinking, let alone policy, is hard for this type of government”.

“[The issue] demands an integrated approach. What we are doing to correct climate change is patently inadequate.

“The failure of the gas strategy to recognise green gas is staggering,” he told the delegates’ adding that a policy “schizophrenia” was a significant problem for organisations such as ADBA, adding: “We work on a systematically uneven playing field.”

Porritt concluded: “Synergies only emerge from a sophisticated policy approach. The problem is that opportunities will remain under-developed until we get much greater clarity on where we are going in the long term.”

ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton opened the conference by highlighting the increase in AD plants in the UK – up 441% in the past three years – and forecast further strong growth.

“The AD industry is showing what it is already delivering for the UK. While the global economy remains slow to recover, the AD market has exploded contributing to the continued growth seen in the UK green economy reaching 8% of GDP today.

“AD is central to the circular economy – delivering for the economy, energy and food security, climate change, air quality and biodiversity.”

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